Shoe of thin gauge sheet metal



May 4, 1954 G. A. LYON 2,677,201

SHOE OF THIN GUGE SHEET METAL Filed July 6, 1950 Patented May 4, 1954 STAES SHOE' OF THIN GAUGEA SHEET rMETAL George Albert Y Lyon, f-Detroit, Mich.

Application =July 6, 1950,' Serial N o.y 172,215

2 Claims. -l

This invention relates to shoes and morepar- .ticularly to a metallic shoe that 'can be made from sheet metal stampingsas well as to .a new way of making a shoe.

Anobject oi' this invention is to provide for the making of a shoefrorn sheet metal stampings such, for example, as stampings from thin gauge resilient si less steel.

Another object of this invention is to provide a metallic sheet metal shoe wherein the resilient characteristics of the metal are employed in the flexing of the shoe and in the gripping of the foot of the wearer.

Yet another object of vthis invention is to provide a sheet metal shoe which lends itself to very economical manufacture on a large production scale.

In accordance with the general features of this invention there is -provided ashoe made of thin gauge resilient sheet metal comprising two substantialh duplicate but oppositely opening shell-like halves joined together along a Aline lengthwise of the shoe and together forming the toe, back, heel and sole portions of the shoe.

Another feature of the invention relates to the forming of the toe portion of a shoe as aforesaid so as to include two opposite curved springy portions relatively flexible for fitting around and engaging the toes of the wearer.

Yet another feature of the invention relates to forming the heel portion of the aforesaid shoe hollow and providing an insert in the back portion of the shoe over the hole in the heel which constitutes an extension of the sole portion above the heel portion and closes olf the hole in the heel.

Other objects and features of this invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which illustrates several embodiments of the invention and in which:

Figure l is a plan view of my novel shoe;

Figure 2 is a side view of the shoe;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line III-III of Figure 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows and showing the construction of the toe portion;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on substantially the line IV--IV of Figure 1 looking upwardly;

Figure 5 is an exploded view showing two stampings or halves going to form my shoe prior to their being joined or welded together.

As shown on the drawings:

The reference character l0 designates generally a sheetmetal shoe embodying the features of .my invention. kIn Figure 5 I have shown how this shoe'can be made from two substantially duplicate but oppositely facing sheet metal stampings :Illa-gmk, .each of which has a straight edge ille-Ind .which when engaged with the straight edge of Ythe othcrhalf can be rwelded to join the two halves together. Any suitable welding equipment ,can be use-cl for this purpose.

After the Awelding operation, the welded joint can be ground whereby the two halves appear to comprise a single unitary sheet metal fab- .rication Excellent results can be attained by stampe ling the right and left halves leave-ith from resilient 'stainless steel sheet metal such as vso-called .1S-8 stainless steel. Preferably a very thin gauge o'fimetal should be used such, for illustratiomas a sheet of .G18 inch thickness.

After the aforesaid joining vof the shoe edges, Asuitablehurling and polishing apparatus can be `employed for giving the sheet metal a very high 'luster if thesarne is desired. On the otherfhand, any suitable finishes, colored or otherwise, can also be imparted to this sheet metal fabrication.

Now referring to Figures Le, inclusive, it will be perceived that the shoe thus formed includes a toe portion Il, a back or quarter portion l2, a heel portion I3, and a sole portion lli. The toe portion Il includes two opposite curved toe gripping portions ila-I la between which is a keyhole shaped space l5 through which the toes of the wearerof the shoe are visible. ln order to reinforce and ornament the entire upper edge of the shoe, I curl or bead theedge at l5. This bead also serves the purpose of eliminating any sharp edge which would cut or injure the wearer.

Now since the heel portion I3 is formed hollow it, of course, becomes necessary to close off the heel at the top of this portion and this is enabled by providing a sheet metal insert i9 over the hole and which may be suitably joined or Welded to the back portion l2 of the shoe.

If it is so desired, a conventional fabric or leather insole (not shown) could be inserted in the shoe on top of the sole portion lli. The use of such inner soles, of course, is well known and old in the shoe art generally and for that reason is not being shown or claimed herein.

By reason of the fact that both shell-like halves of my novel shoe are made of highly resilient very thin gauge sheet metal, the entire shoe can ex readily in the bending of the foot in much the same manner as a leather shoe now exes as one walks with the same on. In addition, the yieldable clip-like toe portions Ila snugly engage the toes of the wearer so as to assist in fitting the shoe to and holding it on the foot.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. As an article of manufacture, a resilient, thin gauge, sheet metal shoe with a quarter portion, a heel portion, a sole portion, side portions and a toe portion, and having a main foot receiving opening, all of said portions being integral with each other and said side portions being continuous with said quarter and toe portions and each side portion having its top edge at said opening curving upwardly, rearwardly and forwardly to said quarter and toe portions respectively from a low point substantially at the forward portion of the instep region of said shoe, said main opening gradually curving at its front end into an opening in the top area of said toe portion and which latter opening is a longitudinally narrowed continuation of said main opening and which is extended to the sole portion where it widens at the front end of the sole portion substantially equally on each side of the longitudinal center line of the quarter, heel and sole portions, said shoe comprising opposite lateral halves formed to resiliently grip a foot and having a longitudinal line of junction at the median plane of the shoe with respect to which the sides of the toe portion are laterally resiliently yieldable at said opening in said toe portion, said longitudinal line of junction and said median plane being defined by the longitudinal center line of said quarter portion, said heel portion and said sole portion.

2. As an article of manufacture, a resilient, 40

thin gauge, sheet metal shoe comprising two juXta-opposed halves joined along the longitudinal medial plane of the shoe, said halves cooperating to define the shoe toe, side, quarter and sole portions with the main shoe opening between said side and quarter portions above said sole portion, all of said portions being integral with each other and said side portions being continuous with said quarter and toe portions and each side portion having its top edge at said opening curving upwardly, rearwardly and forwardly to said quarter and toe portions respectively from a low point substantially at the forward portion of the instep region of said shoe, said main opening gradually curving at its front end into an opening in the top area of said toe portion and which latter opening is a longitudinally narrowed continuation of said main opening and which is extended to the sole portion where it widens at the front end of the sole portion substantially equally on each side of the longitudinal center line of the quarter, heel and sole portions, said toe portion opening dividing the toe portion into two lateral spaced wing-like sides resiliently movable apart over said sole portion and on opposite sides of said medial plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 42,187 Griswold Apr. 5, 1864 718,020 Phillips Jan. 6, 1903 1,575,813 Burke Mar. 9, 1926 1,864,506 Parlante June 21, 1932 1,891,021 Burdotti Dec. 13, 1932 2,114,150 Rodman Apr. 12, 1938 2,239,206 Tietg Apr. 22, 1941 2,358,474 Pope Sept. 19, 1944 2,467,237 Sherman Apr. 12, 1949 2,496,782 Engel Feb. 7, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 454,198 France June 27, 1913 808,992 France Nov. 24, 1936 

